TOUR FAQ

Our volunteers at the Ranch do a variety of projects – including upkeep of enclosures, yard work and landscaping, cleaning and preparation of residents’ food items, guiding tours, and much, much more. We also have our Thrift Store that needs volunteers…a perfect opportunity for the person who needs to be inside from the Florida heat, or just loves to help out with retail! Thrift Store volunteers help with selling items, cleaning, and organizing the store.

When you arrive for your Day Tour, you’ll begin your visit with a quick welcome video. Shortly afterwards, you will be taken on a guided tour with one of our volunteers. Tours last approximately 40-45 minutes and include information about our facilities, facts about the species we house – both in the wild and in captivity – personal stories about some of our residents, explanation of habitats and nutrition, description of enrichment activities, and much more. You are welcome to ask any questions you may have and to take pictures during your visit. Since our residents are mostly nocturnal (big cats can sleep up to 20 hours a day), you will most likely find most of our animals sleeping.

When you arrive for your Night Feeding Tour, you’ll begin your visit with a quick welcome video. Shortly afterwards, you will be taken on a guided tour with one of our volunteers. Tours last approximately 40-45 minutes and include information about our facilities, facts about the species we house – both in the wild and in captivity – personal stories about some of our residents, explanation of habitats and nutrition, description of enrichment activities, and much more. You are welcome to ask any questions you may have and to take pictures during your visit.

You may use any time between the tour and the beginning of our night feeding to grab a snack at our concession stand, take a break in our entrance area, or watch our animals at your own leisure. At 7:30 PM we will begin feeding at the back of the property and work our way to the front. You will get to see us feed all the bigger animals. The foxes, coatimundis, and bobcat are not part of the public feeding; because of their nature, they are fed earlier in the day.

Curt, our founder and Executive Director, will lead the 7:30 PM night feeding. While feeding our residents, Curt will interact with some of them as well as educate the crowd on our various species. The night feeding often gets loud with our residents roaring – lions can be heard up to five miles away!

Since our cats are mostly nocturnal and are used to being fed at night, they will be quite awake. You will find them watching our visitors, swimming in their pools, and playing with each other.

Our feline residents are strict carnivores and eat raw meat, typically a ratio of 60-80% chicken and 20-40% red muscle meat. We mix in additional vitamins and calcium supplements, and add other supplements like glucosamine and fish oil on an individual basis as needed.

The foxes and coatimundis are omnivores. They eat mostly raw meat but are also given eggs and some fruits and berries.

You are welcome to wear any shoes you feel comfortable in. However, remember your tour is outside on packed dirt, and is approximately one mile.
If it has been raining, we suggest wearing closed-toed shoes because there may be some mud.

We have a restroom facility in our entrance area. It has steps leading to the restrooms, so we also have a couple port-o-lets, one of which is handicapped accessible. There is also a port-o-let in the back exhibit area.

All our tours are walking tours. Your complete tour is approximately one mile (at a leisurely pace). However, we are accessible to our mobility-impaired guests! For those that cannot walk the whole mile, there are two options for them:

We are wheelchair-accessible: our paths are packed dirt, but are fairly easy to navigate with a wheelchair. There is a small patch of dirt before reaching the animals that is softer and you may need a push through.

We also offer golf cart tours. Ask our cashier about a golf cart when you check in and they will make sure a driver/tour guide is ready for you with the golf cart.

Wheelchair Accessible – our paths are packed dirt, but are fairly easy to navigate with a wheelchair. There is a small patch of dirt before reaching the animals that is softer and you may need a push through.

Golf cart tour – ask our cashier about a golf cart when you check in and they will make sure a driver/tour guide is ready for you with the golf cart.

Yes! We are child-friendly and have children of all ages visit us. Please note, if your child is scared of loud noises, our residents can be fairly loud during night feedings. For ticket pricing, ages 3-11 qualify for the child admission rate, anyone 12 and older counts as an adult, and kids 2 and younger are always free.